


as darkness falls (a spark resides)

by AlexiaBlackbriar13



Series: s7 pregnant felicity fics [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Post 7x13, Pregnancy, Season 7 Spoilers, Spooning, Ultrasound Photos, Unplanned Pregnancy, olicity baby, season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 15:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17769068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/pseuds/AlexiaBlackbriar13
Summary: It's been two weeks since Felicity found out she's pregnant, and she hasn't told Oliver yet.Plagued by nightmares about being attacked and the baby being hurt, Felicity struggles to sleep.After Oliver witnesses one of her post-nightmare panic attacks, she finally tells him about the baby.





	as darkness falls (a spark resides)

**Author's Note:**

> OLICITY ARE HAVING A BABY
> 
> *SCREAMS EXCITEDLY*
> 
> (un-beta'd because i was desperate to post this)
> 
> (this sort of follows on from my fic [_not easy (but worth it_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17757953) but you don't have to read it to read this)

“Honey, what are you doing? It’s the middle of the night. Come back to bed.”

Felicity nodded absentmindedly, completely focused on the lines of code in front of her on her laptop screen. She was looking them over for any errors that could have resulted in the failure of the new algorithm she was trying out for her DNA tracking system. She rested one hand over her stomach protectively, out of view of Oliver’s gaze. “Five more minutes.”

“No, not five more minutes.” She jumped when she felt Oliver’s finger’s gliding over her shoulders to massage them gently, and his lips brush against the top of her head. “It’s three in the morning, baby. You have to be exhausted.”

She was tired. In truth, Felicity felt as if she was going to pass out any second. But after she’d woken up from a horrific nightmare in the middle of the night about Diaz pointing a gun at her abdomen - at their unborn child - she’d known that it would be impossible for her to get back to sleep that night. That, and the constant heavy pressure on her bladder from the baby, that made her need to pee too often to count.

It had been two weeks since Dr Schwartz had called to tell Felicity that her blood results revealed she was pregnant, meaning she was eight weeks along. Being two months developed, the baby was the size of a raspberry. According to the internet, the baby’s head and limbs were starting to form, and she had webbed hands and toes. Well - Felicity kept thinking that it was a she. She didn’t know for certain, and they wouldn’t know for another couple of months, but she had a feeling that this baby was a little girl.

Oliver didn’t know yet. She hadn’t told him. After her extra tests and first ultrasound with Dr Schwartz, Felicity had kept Oliver’s copy of the ultrasound photograph tucked away, hidden from sight. She hadn’t managed to build up the courage to tell him that they were expecting a baby yet, and that was partly due to the anxiety and worries that had been plaguing her about the situation. They had just allowed William to leave to live with his grandparents after all, as they’d realized they couldn’t give him a normal life.

She wasn’t concerned at all that Oliver wouldn’t be pleased - she knew that he would be delighted to find out she was pregnant - but she was concerned about the fact that the baby would be in danger, since their lives were constantly under threat. Dr Schwartz’s words of advice at the hospital had helped ease her worries slightly, but Felicity still had her reservations. Which was why she hadn’t informed her husband yet about her pregnancy.

She wouldn’t be surprised if Oliver was starting to suspect something was up, though. Although her belly was still rather flat and she hadn’t started to properly show yet, other pregnancy symptoms had slammed into Felicity like a freight train. Her breasts were starting to get sore (which made sex really fun - note the sarcasm), she was feeling tired all the time, she was getting some light but awful cramping, and the vivid dreams and nightmares wouldn’t leave her alone.

Then there was the heightened sense of smell and the morning sickness. Oliver had to think she was suffering from the flu or something if he hadn’t already worked out she was pregnant, because she was swamped by nausea at the most random of times, which made her rush to the nearest toilet or sink to throw up. Morning sickness didn’t just stick to mornings, it appeared. She hadn’t been having any crazy cravings yet, but Felicity was convinced that her taste bud changes (she couldn’t stomach mint choc chip ice-cream anymore, how fucked up was that!?) were the precursor to that.

“I am exhausted,” Felicity admitted to her husband, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes with a hum as Oliver ran his fingers through her hair. “But after I woke up earlier, I was struggling to get back to sleep, so I sort of just… gave up.”

“This has happened a couple times over the last week,” Oliver frowned, kneeling down beside her. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe you should go and see Dr Schwartz. Are you still getting stomach cramps?” He leaned over and kissed her belly and didn’t _that_ just make Felicity’s heart have an erratic seizure within her chest. Oliver didn’t even _know_ she was pregnant yet but he was already kissing her belly. “I’m worried. Viruses usually don’t hit you this hard.”

_It’s not a virus. I’m pregnant._

“I’m just a little worn out because of all the start-up work,” she said instead. “I’m fine, Oliver, I promise. I did go and see Dr Schwartz and she just said to take it easy and keep taking my multivitamins.”

Oliver nodded, although there was still a glint of concern in his beautiful eyes. “Come back to bed with me. We can spoon. I’ll be the big spoon for once.”

“You love being the little spoon,” Felicity smiled.

“Everybody likes being the little spoon. It makes you feel safe. But you’re the one who needs comforting right now, so I’ll make the sacrifice.”

He helped her to her feet once she’d saved her program and shut down her laptop, leading her by the hand through to their bedroom. Throwing back the sheets, Oliver stood back so she could clamber in, before settling down beside her. Felicity curled up on her side - she felt sick lying on her front and on her back nowadays - and sighed in relief when she felt Oliver slide up behind her and press his warm chest to her back, wrapping his arm around her waist. 

The physical contact chased away all her rising feelings of discomfort; Felicity snuggled back into his embrace appreciatively, not caring about the fact that she was quickly going to overheat since Oliver usually ran the temperature of a sauna. After ten minutes or so of spooning, the blonde grunted and twisted around so she could hug him from the front, burying her head into his shoulder and tangling their legs together.

“You’re very cuddly tonight,” Oliver observed quietly, his voice a deep rumble.

_It’s the pregnancy hormones._

“I’m not allowed to cuddle with my husband?” she teased.

“Oh no, you’re definitely allowed. But I thought you got too hot when we slept like this.”

Felicity exhaled, her breath tickling his collarbone and making him squirm a little. “Tonight I just want you to hold me.” And when they were embracing like this, the baby was sandwiched between them and therefore offered the most protection.

Oliver didn’t question it. “Okay.”

The archer was unconscious within minutes. Felicity envied the ease at which he was able to fall asleep, especially since she was starting to get small flutters in her belly again which signified another bout of nausea about to arrive. She groaned silently into Oliver’s chest, trying to shift around to try and get her stomach to stop doing somersaults. 

Eventually, she managed to find a comfortable position half splayed out over Oliver’s chest, forced her eyes shut and cleared her mind, drifting off into the darkness.

She woke up screaming barely twenty minutes later to the explicit and entirely too realistic thought of Adrian Chase tying her down and caressing her stomach as he prepared to strike down at their baby left over from her nightmare.

Oliver was immediately awake beneath her, desperately trying to comfort her with sweet, gentle strokes over her head and back. But it reminded Felicity too much of Adrian’s touch, and she scrambled away from him, her chest tight and head spinning. Falling to the floor on her knees hard, the impact knocking the oxygen from her lungs, Felicity started to hyperventilate, heaving air in and out of her lungs frantically.

“Felicity,” Oliver whispered, shocked and distressed as he slid down onto the floor as well. “It’s alright, you’re safe. It was just a nightmare. I’m here -”

“Don’t touch me,” she choked out, flinching away when she spotted his hand heading towards her through her blurred vision. Although she really wanted him to comfort her, she didn’t want to think about Adrian’s fingers brushing over her stomach. “I… I can’t…” The entire contents of her abdomen felt like they were flipping inside of her. “I’m going to be sick.”

Oliver ignored her request for him not to touch her, only so he could swiftly pull her up and hurry her into the bathroom. It was only due to her husband’s arms around her hips that Felicity didn’t buckle to the ground and smack her head against the tiles when her legs failed her. She vomited into the toilet basin until there was nothing left to sick up except foul tasting bile, and remained there with tears in her eyes and sobs bursting from her chest until the nausea finally passed.

Throughout it all, Oliver held her hair back for her and rubbed his hand in soothing circles over her shoulder blades, shushing her gently and reassuring her that she was fine, he didn’t mind and that they were safe in their apartment together.

The only time Oliver left her side was to hastily grab a wet flannel so he could wipe her sweaty forehead and then her mouth, and fill up a glass of water from the sink to offer her. Felicity rocked back so she was sitting cross-legged against the wall as she sipped at the water delicately, not wanting to upset her stomach again but needing to get the taste of death out of her mouth. Her free hand instinctively dropped down to rest over her belly and cover the baby, but Oliver didn’t appear to notice.

“Are you going to be sick again?” he asked her worriedly.

“No, I don’t think so,” she mumbled.

“Do you mind if I carry you back to bed then?”

She shook her head. Oliver swallowed and swept her back into his arms bridal style, cradling her carefully against him as he maneuvered them out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. Felicity brushed her nose against his throat and inhaled his natural musky scent, slowly starting to relax.

After making sure she was wrapped in a blanket and leaning against the bed’s backboard, Oliver went back to fetch her glass of water and grabbed a couple of Tylenol pills from the bathroom cabinet. Thank god it was Tylenol and not Advil, because while pregnant Felicity was only allowed to take paracetamol, and not ibuprofen. She gulped down the pills, finished the water and then sat forward, resting her head in her hands.

“Pretty bad nightmare, huh?” Oliver said gently.

“Yeah.”

“You’ve been having them rather frequently lately,” he said, his voice soft but prompting. “You know you can speak to me about anything. Tell me anything. Do you want to talk about them?”

Felicity breathed out shakily. “They’re all different but they all have the same theme. Me getting kidnapped by one of the bad guys we’ve faced and then them threatening our child,” she admitted.

Oliver took hold of her hands, squeezing them tenderly. “That must be awful,” he murmured. “But William is safe, Felicity. He’s living a normal life in Central City with his grandparents and every time Barry and Iris have checked up on him, they’ve said he’s safe and happy. He’s not going to be threatened or hurt anymore.”

He thought she was talking about William? Oh boy. “That’s not the child I’m referring to.”

Her husband paused for a moment, then shook his head in bemusement. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Well, it was now or never. Felicity slowly raised Oliver’s hands until they were placed over her stomach.

“Oliver. I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

His eyes widened. He stopped. He stopped blinking, moving, even breathing. Oliver’s gaze was glued to her currently flat belly and for a good long minute, he could do nothing but stare in absolute astonishment. Then, he very gradually lifted his eyes to meet hers and tears trailed down Felicity’s cheeks when she saw they were filled with confusion, fear, and wonder.

“You’re pregnant?” he croaked. “We’re having a baby?”

She nodded silently.

His attention snapped back down to her stomach. Almost as if the time passing was wrenching a cog, Oliver steadily started moving - he dropped down to his knees at the side of their bed so that he was at eye-level with her abdomen. His hands stirred into motion, lightly dancing his fingertips over the delicate skin of her belly and curling his pinkies around her waist, his thumbs stroking over her hips.

“We’re having a baby,” he echoed, his voice hushed with awe, but trembling. “How… how far…”

“Eight weeks,” she told him, threading her own fingers through his short hair and scratching them over his scalp. She was shivering all over from overwhelming emotions, not entirely understanding or knowing what her husband’s true reaction to this revelation was yet. “I found out two weeks ago.”

“The blood tests,” Oliver muttered.

“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you straight away. It didn’t seem like the right time, with Will moving away and then I was scared…”

He jerked his head in a nod. He still wasn’t breathing properly. Judging by that, and the tense set of his shoulders, Oliver was fighting back a panic attack. “What happened with Stanley… the baby wasn’t -”

“The baby is fine,” she reassured him. “The drug he gave us was safe for pregnant women.”

“Okay. Okay, I - I need a minute,” Oliver said. He got to his feet suddenly, his eyes wild. His anxious tick was back and he was rubbing his thumbs and forefingers together agitatedly. “I just need - I’ll be back, I promise, I just need a minute -”

He left the bedroom, stumbling through the door as he disappeared.

Felicity was left alone, the silence and darkness both deafening and suffocating. As soon as Oliver vanished, the alarm set back in and soon Felicity was hyperventilating again. Was Oliver happy? Sad? Was he upset? He’d barely said anything or expressed any kind of emotion a loud. This had been completely unplanned and accidental - he had to have some feelings about that. He’d sent William away - was he going to want to send this baby away too, if they even decided to keep it? Oh god, did he even _want_ the baby? She’d thought that he would, that he would be happy, but after that reaction… Felicity didn’t know if she would be able to give this up now. Not after two weeks of starting to love the baby unconditionally, and imagining herself and Oliver raising her together.

Dizzy as hell and shakily uncontrollably, Felicity rocked back and forth as a frenzied hysteria trampled through her mind, causing the nausea to return. But she was too weak to get to the bathroom and there was nothing left for her to throw up, so she just ended up coiling up into a ball on top of the bed and sobbing.

She didn’t even realize Oliver had come back until he was picking her up in his arms, swearing under his breath at himself and trying to calm her down. Felicity wrapped her arms around his neck and locked them together, refusing to let go. If Oliver was going to leave again, he was going to have to take her with him. “Shit, shit, shit. God, Felicity, I’m so sorry. I’m not going anywhere, baby, I swear, I’m right here with you and I love you so much.”

“You _left_ ,” she whined.

"I know, I know, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Felicity. I'm back now."

"Where did you go? Why did you go?" she thumped him in the chest.

“To get this.”

He gently un-pried her arms from around his neck so he could keep her on his lap while reaching across to the nightstand to grab a small box there. Opening it up, Oliver pressed it into her hands. Felicity stared down through her tears at a ring with an emerald flanked by two winking diamonds, nestled in a bed of black velvet.

“It’s a promise ring. I’ve been waiting to give this to you for a while because I haven’t been sure what promise I should make, but I - I was going to promise you that I would always be here to support you and the baby, and that I would never leave you or let you down again. Guess that’s a stupid promise to make now, considering what I just did,” he attempted to joke.

“So you’re happy about the baby?” she asked hesitantly, blinking away the wetness in her eyes.

His expression grew serious again. “Felicity, I love you and -” He placed his hand over hers over her belly. “- I already love this baby. I am so absolutely, incredibly happy right now. I’m so sorry if I gave you the impression otherwise. I don’t have the proper words to express how overjoyed I am that we’re going to be parents again.”

Taking her hand gently, Oliver slid the promise ring down her finger until it nestled comfortably up against her platinum wedding band. Bending down, he pressed his lips to the two rings and then kissed the back of her hand and her palm.

Oliver looked up at her with a winning, radiant grin. “There. Promise made.”

Felicity nodded, wiped away more tears, and then attacked him with a hug. Oliver embraced her back just as tightly, being careful not to jostle her stomach too much despite the fact that she wasn’t showing yet, and the baby was perfectly protected inside her womb at the moment.

“We have a lot more to talk about,” she muttered, thinking of William and safety measures and everything else that had been making her anxious over the last two weeks, although those things had been nothing compared her to concerns about telling Oliver.

“I know. But that can wait,” Oliver responded. “Right now I want you to tell me _everything_ you know about our baby. You said you went to go and see Dr Schwartz - did she -”

“There’s a gift for you in my black ankle boots in the closet,” she interrupted him.

She couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm at which Oliver jumped off the bed and skipped to the closet, searching through her shoes until she found the pair she had told him about. He slipped the curled up envelope from within the boot and instantly rushed back to her, making the mattress bounce as he collapsed back down next to her.

The look of utter amazement on Oliver’s face as he examined the ultrasound photograph was enough to convince Felicity that all her anxiety throughout the past fortnight had been worth it. He tapped his finger over the white smudge.

“This is our baby?” he questioned.

“Two weeks ago, yes,” Felicity confirmed, resting her head against his shoulder. “That’s just a blob, though. She’s much bigger now, the size of a raspberry. And she looks much more like a human. She’s got a head and arms and legs, and hands and feet with digits starting to form. Knowing our genes, she’s probably a parkour baby, kicking and waving in here.” She patted her stomach gently.

Oliver turned around so fast that he could have got whiplash. “‘She’?”

“We don’t know for sure. But I do think it’s a girl. Mother’s intuition,” Felicity claimed.

“She’s beautiful,” he murmured.

“She’s a white blob, Oliver.”

“She’s beautiful,” he insisted. He leaned in to kiss her warmly. “You’re beautiful.” Felicity rolled her eyes fondly, and yawned. “And you’re tired. You should sleep. You need rest if you’re growing a little Oliver and Felicity hybrid inside you.”

“That’s what I called her when I was talking to Dr Schwartz,” Felicity said, delighted they were on the same wavelength.

Oliver’s expression had morphed back into one of reverence. “I can’t believe that you and I made a tiny human being,” he said, his hands caressing over her stomach once again. Felicity had the feeling that her husband was going to be doing this often, not that she minded. It felt lovely. “You’re going to be a mom. I’m going to be a dad. Again,” he added. “William is going to freak out when he hears he’s going to be a big brother.”

“Do you mind if we wait to tell him and the others?” Felicity requested quietly. “Just until after the dating scan. So we know everything is alright.”

Oliver nodded, gently pulling her back down under the covers and spooning her from behind, his hands shielding her belly. “Of course. We can do anything you want, honey.”

“That’s exactly what your pregnant wife wants to hear,” Felicity sighed.

Oliver went quiet again.

“What? What is it?” she asked.

“Just the fact I get to call you my pregnant wife. I always hoped we would end up here, but I never thought it would actually be possible. I’m a little worried this is just a wonderful dream I’m about to wake up from.”

“Good to know I can make your dreams come true.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! i really hope you enjoyed. i would really appreciate feedback in the comments, thank youuuu xx
> 
> twitter: @lexiblackbriar  
> tumblr: @alexiablackbriar13


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